Gas turbine systems are widely utilized in fields such as power generation. A conventional gas turbine system includes a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. Typical gas turbine engines include a rotor assembly having a row of rotor blades that extend radially outward from a platform positioned between an airfoil portion of the blade and a dovetail portion of the blade. The dovetail couples each rotor blade to the rotor disk such that a radial clearance may be defined between each rotor blade platform and the rotor disk.
The rotor blades are circumferentially spaced such that a gap is defined between adjacent rotor blades. More specifically, a gap extends between each pair of adjacent rotor blade platforms. Because the platforms define a portion of the gas flow path through the engine, during engine operation fluid may flow through the gaps, resulting in blade air losses and decreased engine performance. Adjacent blade platform may be coupled together according to a traditional ship-lapping design, with each platform having the identical platform shape: one side with an upward facing undercut and the opposite side with a downward facing undercut.
However, when using a curved blade platform, the use of traditional ship-lapping designs can be problematic. For example, when installed one at a time, the final blade platform installed onto the rotor can have only one ship-lapped joint.
As such, a need exists for a design coupling of adjacent blade platforms, particularly curved blade platforms.